


Constellations and Constant Stares.

by SirenoftheDamned



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Demonic Possession, F/M, Female Dipper, Gideon is smol, Gravity Falls AU, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Magic Dipper and Mabel, Male Mabel, Mystery Trio, Psychological Horror, Ships will get less crack shipey as they try to fix things so be prepared to see things burn ;3, Tags May Change, all other characters are their original genders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-05-21 10:09:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6047665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirenoftheDamned/pseuds/SirenoftheDamned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world ended around them, and chaos reigned free in the wake of crushed civilization. Surviving thanks to the decision and power of his twin sister "Ursa" Pines, Mason spent three years learning spells beyond his skill level to mount a rescue for his captured twin. When his plan fails and he is sent back to his awaiting friends and loved ones he has to accept a dangerous plan that will send him back in time with a few other chosen individuals where they must try to convince their younger selves to alter time without the ability to explain why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Smoke and Mirrors

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a concept I'd been playing with for a while where Dipper is a girl and calls herself Ursa (since the big and little dippers fall inside the Ursa major and Minors) and Mabel is a boy named Mason. In this AU there is magic, weirdmaggeddon, dimension hopping, time shenanigans, and crack ships (end of the world does that to people.) a lot of things are completely different from the original show's plot, though there are stark similarities. I'm hoping you all will enjoy this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I do have another story I am working on so updates here may be a little less frequent (I want it to be A++ quality and spell/grammar checks take a lot of time). Please comment with suggestions or if you'd like me to continue this since it's kind of an abstract concept. 
> 
> P.S. Yes I know this chapter is kind of on the short side, it's just the introduction and I didn't want to dedicate a huge amount of time into this if no one liked the concept :P.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason tries to save his sister Ursa from Bill's nightmare monolith but things don't go as well as he'd hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, this is a concept I'd been playing around with for a while with my friend and I figured I'd see who liked it. I'll keep working on it along with my other regular Bill/Dip story if I find that other people are interested in it. Thank you so much for at least giving it a chance. Feel free to leave a comment, and if you're wondering why this is so short, it's just the introductory. If it's well received the other chapters will be much longer and will probably include at least three adventures at a time.
> 
> It's important to note that not -every- episode will be redone. One's where the character's genders wouldn't really affect it such as the gobblewonker will be skipped over, mostly to save time.

“You know once you step in there, there is no coming back.” Black dust floated through the air, the ground grayed as if even soil was simply ashes. The sky loomed above a bleary blood red, noxious looking clouds covering up the sun and shimmering like a technicolor vapor. The air smelled like sulfur and overhead birds called out with two beaks, rows of teeth shimmering in the ever present reddish light. Buildings lay in waste, stone crumbled and shattered like glass. Hollow, empty windows peered out into the lifeless remnants of streets the wind howling through them like ghostly wailing. In the distance a large field of house sized bubbles shimmered in strange colors, the objects lazily pushing through the dust and decaying land. Softly colored brown eyes stared up ahead, a shadow covering the last patch of forest left and cascading down in the shape of a pyramid. “I know gruncle Ford. But this is my mess. I have to clean it up.” A hand pressed against the worn fabric of a multi-colored sweater, small freckles dotting the surface of nearly porcelain skin. “Babe, please. I can’t lose you too.” The sweet southern accent made the one with the brown eyes smile, slightly summer tanned hands reaching up to caress the rounded face of the other. “I promise you won’t lose me. It’s going to be alright.” 

Blue eyes stared back into brown with trepidation, tears threatening to come down and streak across pale skin. “Mason…You say that, but I can’t trust it. What happens if you fail?” Mason, the brown eyed boy with a sweet smile and multicolored sweater smiled back at his blue eyed lover. There was a bitter sweetness to his grin, and uncertainty in his gaze “Then I come back here and we take doctor Chiu…I guess it’s doctor Northwest now, up on her plan.” Another hand came to rest on Mason’s shoulder, the young man preoccupied with wiping the tears from his beloved’s face. “Kiddo…I know you feel responsible for this. Trust me, when Ford ended up in that portal I thought I’d never forgive myself. But I think…I think it’s too late to save her kiddo. It’s been three years and.” A sharp gaze met with the tired, worn eyes of a man who looked aged beyond his years. Gray hair was slowly turning white at the edges and his skin seemed to carry his sadness in its folds. “No gruncle Stan, don’t think like that. She’s my sister, I have to try. If I hadn’t gotten our bags mixed up…If I hadn’t given them that stupid sphere, then she’d still be right here with us. I have to believe she’s in there." Gazes were crossed, four different eyes meeting Masons as he surveyed the small gathering. Two brown stared back with pain and understanding, one green looked back with apathy, and the blue eyes of his lover looked back at him with pain. 

The group was huddled together with their bodies almost touching, an array of colors and fabrics that stood as lone survivors in the emptiness of the world around them. They looked to be just specks of lingering life in a wasteland, stubbornly refusing to give in to the inevitable embrace of death. Mason's eyes left the gaze of his lover in favor of viewing the towering pyramid above him, the brick a stale black with red pulsing between the spaces like a steady heartbeat. There were no chains keeping the monolith in the sky, no pillars, no solid ground for it to be supported upon. Its presence stood as a reminder that reality, physics, gravity, biology, astronomy, and architecture had all been rendered useless to the forces of things much greater than the world the currently hosted them. “Alright, time to try this spell and hope I don’t misplace a body part. Oh…Gids, baby, look it was a joke. I’ve been practicing. I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t sure that I could make it.” The fear in his lover’s eyes almost made him reconsider, almost made it worth it to turn around and embrace those that remained in the wake of the end. Pushed on by the last bit of determination he seemed to had, Mason spoke inaudible words his body glowing a variety of colors and something like magic flowed through him. They had scientifically found a way to explain this phenomenon two years ago, and with extensive study. It was like manipulating atoms with one’s own magnetic and electron pulse, since all living things had a unique energy all living things were then too able to manipulate the energy around them. The light expanded until it became overwhelming, the four companions of Mason averting their gazes.

Mason opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by black bricks that glowed red and pulsed like a beating heart. Staircases loomed over head seeming to go to nowhere in particular and yet everywhere at once. Chains jingled above his head and he looked up to see a chandelier made of bones swaying back and forth, its lights shimmering like ten glowing eyes and it seemed as if the entire space made one feel as if they were being observed. Bravery pushed the brown eyed man onwards, his scruffy, unkempt hair falling into his face in soft strands with every few steps he took. His shoes echoed against the brick, too loudly and yet not making a sound at all. The pure unorthodox nature of the space he explored reminded him that this was the epicenter of everything, all misery and chaos bled from this place like a wound that cut through layers of fleshy tissue and severed the openings to the arteries. The silence was nearly as deafening as the constant supernatural wailing of the walls as he passed, his mind trudging through what was real and what was hallucination. The problem was, it was all real and all hallucination there in the place where everything is true and nothing is as it seems and everything flows at its own rules of reality. 

Now laughter echoed around him, reverberating in his soul and its sound was so familiar that his mind ached and his heart quivered. It was shrill and ethereal and it embodied all that was before and behind this moment. Steady steps, peeled eyes watched for traps or tricks. Spaces in the floor seemed to disappear but as he passed a foot carefully over them it revealed that this too was an illusion. One that could quickly turn into reality so no time was to be wasted exploring the how’s and why’s of the strange space. “Shooting Star.” A voice echoed into Mason's mind, his feet beginning to chatter and his teeth beginning to shake. Hero’s didn’t exist in this world, only the lucky and foolhardy cowards like Mason himself who were so filled with fear that they somehow came all the way around to being brave before going back again in a ceaseless cycle of existence. 

The pulsing on the walls became more prevalent, the shrieking became quieter and his mind told him that he was getting closer. Before him seemed to be a solid wall, the staircase spiraling in a way to which he was standing upside down all while standing completely right side up. He couldn’t trust that this was just a wall, his body pressed into it and it sank against him like fatty flesh. It enveloped him and pressed into every space of his body seeping through the holes in his brightly colored sweater, into the eyes of the hand sewn image of a star that had no face and a rainbow trail flowing from its rear. Insanity was more comforting than this, but the fleshy tissues of the wall relented leaving behind a salty stench and an odorous taste. The room before him now was grand, the eye of the pyramid seeming to be a window that stared down into the destruction below and the room itself so finely decorated that it seemed to be made of the essence of its creator. There was a special kind of refined nature to the gruesome furniture made of frozen people and dismembered body parts. A special kind of luxurious gore that could only be pulled off by the one creature who owned such a horrifying domicile. At least in this instance the chandeliers above Masons head were made of gold and blown glass instead of bone. 

“Do you like it kid?” the voice had returned and it moved like a warm breath against his ear though Mason knew no one was actually there. It had an echo to it that made it almost seem disembodied, unable to properly be processed into this world as it shoved its multi-dimensional existence into a measly three. “It’s grand.” He spoke out to nothing but the emptiness around him, not even a grandfather clock that seemed to be made of actual grandfathers making enough sound to liven the room. “You’re a horrible host though. I’ve been wondering around for hours it seems. Don’t you know how to treat a guest?” that familiar laugh encased him like an iron maiden, its shrill warmth jabbing into him with the fervor of a thousand tiny spikes. “Oh you’re so much more than a guest kid. I mean at this point aren’t we practically family Pines?” brown eyes closed for a moment and the room reeked of decaying matter and squished like a mass of spiraling organs. The walls echoed with a crass squelching sound.

“Yes. Speaking of which, why don’t you come and see me man to man. Brother-in-law.” Warmth surrounded him but still he did not open his eyes, the heat gradually worsening and making his skin ache in a way reminiscent to standing in front of an open fire for too long. His breaths came out like puffs of lost air, a wheezing escaping his lungs and they felt like they were burning from the inside out. He mentally reminded himself that this was an illusion, he was breathing fine and the floor was solid brick not organs and scattered pieces of bone and marrow. This seemed to have the desired effect, the floors echoing from his heavy footsteps as they pressed against a solid surface. Once the feeling of suffocating was lifted he peeled his eyes open, the room appearing much smaller than before and filled with tasteful lounge furniture. He met the gaze of a man whose skin was the color of mocha and whose eyes shimmered like molten gold. The fine hairs upon his scalp seemed like a mixture of silver and white gold spun into delicate strands of silk and falling stylishly over the well angled face. 

This man was tall, his coat shimmered like a miniature diorama of the stars that clung just right against his somewhat slender frame. “Cipher. How long has it been, a year, three? You look good. For a homicidal, trilateral, multidimensional waste of existence that is.” The teeth in the man’s grin were sharp and pointed more like razor sharp claws than actual structures of calcium, the corners of his mouth seeming to stretch far beyond the point of a normal human. Of course, Mason reminded himself, this was not a human. “Don’t be rude Mason.” The voice that came from seemingly nowhere left Mason overpowered by his emotions, shaking his core in a way he never thought would be possible. From the silhouetted shadows of the wall to the left of the tall man, a young woman stepped out with her caramel brown boots pressing against the floor. Blue eyes shimmered back to him with a pale glow, the face of the woman almost his exact replica save a few strikingly more feminine qualities. “Ursa…” her name came from with throat like a choked sob and his knees buckled beneath him, his body crumpling against the brick floor. “Why are you here brother.” The sweet voice of his sister drove tears into Mason’s brown eyes, his pulse pressing against his throat which stuck to itself uncomfortably. “Ursa…I. You’re really alive. I thought. I doubted.” A silence blanketed the room like fog and only the ragged, desperate sobbing coming from Masons own throat seemed to fill it. A curtain of brown hair assaulted his bleary vision and a familiar warmth surrounded him, arms pressing against his back almost uncomfortably tight. A soft, familiar hum broke through a metallic hum in his ears and his breath caught itself of the tip of a hook. 

“Mason. Did you come to stay with me?” His hands reached out to find the solid form of his sister, arms grasping onto her with the same fervor that hers seemed to hold onto him. His stomach lurched and churned as if it was gaily skipping in place of his feet, his mind replaying old memories in an almost old-movie theatre-esc fashion. “That’d be nice…Except you aren’t real.” Solemn words left a dry mouth, the warmth replaced with a startling cold that hit him down to the bone. He had closed his eyes while holding her, and she felt to him like smoke the way she drifted through him as though he were an air vent. “Open your eyes Mason.” Adamant refusal coursed through his veins like the chilling cold all around him, the solid ground piercing like needles against his calves and knee’s almost tempting him to jerk upwards. He forced his body to still itself, his nerves prickling from things that weren’t there and yet still could be if he allowed them. “You’ve wizened up since I last saw you Pines.” The realness of that voice broke through his hazy mind and allowed him to experience his environment in its truth. The rough bumpy surface of brick pushed into frayed jeans and touched against the hairs along his knee cap, the air here was stale and smelled of flesh and alcohol. The intensity of the smell of old wine assaulted his nose so heavily that it forced him to peer open, the room seeming again to change in appearance from the last time he’d seen it. He was once more met with the glowing eyes of the mocha man, his sharp grin still stretched across his face and seeming to swallow his features with its intensity.

“When can this game end Cipher? I just want to see her.” He dared to meet the gaze of the man, the blond tilting his head and the room seeming to tilt with it. Mason blocked the vision from his eyes, slamming them shut so fast his lids hurt from the effort though the feeling of vertigo and displacement still followed even from the brief exposure. “You’ve REALLY wizened up kid. Where’d you learn this little trick? Stanley? Stanford? Pacifica? Gideon? Someone else perhaps? Ah, it doesn’t matter. If you’re smart, which you’re not, you’ll leave now before I’m forced to do something that Aura is going to make me regret.” Resolution ran through his veins and Mason felt within his core that he would not give up, not unless he was dead. The feeling, desire to outwit the man before him was so strong it enveloped him like his magic often did and he could physically feel linoleum under his knees the smell of fresh pines and spring Frasier wafting through his mind.

A light now pushed through his lids, it intense whiteness assaulting to his senses and he realized this was real. Eyes opened once more, white and gold diamond linoleum stretching across a vast room. Golden chandeliers swayed gently above him, the source of the offending light as the glimmered from gems that floated just above the mantle. A heel tapped across the linoleum, a flash of black catching his gaze and holding it hostage. Across the room from him, wrapped in a black coat much like the blond man’s but lined with fur was his sister. Her eyes really did shimmer with a blue but the color was vibrant not pale, her once long brown hair cut short and framing her face. Blue glasses sat on the tip of her nose, the blue frames creating a unique compliment to the deep golden scarf around her neck. Her smile was warm and familiar to him in a way he realized the illusions hadn’t but he still couldn’t trust that this was reality before him. So much seemed to be so real in the after wake of Cipher’s chaos he had no way of knowing what was true and what was just his vivid imagination driving the very essence of Cipher’s powers. 

“What actually happened to Mr. Puddle butt?” words of hope and sincerity left him and he was met with a raised eyebrow that was so quirky and scrutinous that, had he wanted to cry it seemed to steal the ability from him. “Dad ran him over with the lawnmower Mason. You know that.” Only three people would have known that, the weight of both triumph and uncertainty filling Mason so heavily he could see the magic reverberating around him like he was a technicolored strobe light of pastels and warm feelings. The woman across the room stepped just a slight closer, a strange greenish blue aura surrounding her body as if the blue was choking out the beautiful shade of evergreen that was trying to break through and Mason didn’t doubt for a moment that it was. “Ursa. It’s been three years since I’ve seen you and you’re still as wonderful sister.” Her smile was so saddened that he could hear his heart crack, booming and echoing like a rock skipped across a frozen lake in the mountains leaving his ears ringing.

The linoleum seemed to shift into a rough rocky path, the smell of frozen ice perforating the air and bitterly chilling his hands. He closed his eyes again, feeling across the floor which seemed to his hands still solid and smooth but to his knees rough and uneven. A burst of magic left him, bouncing off of every surface and giving him a strange sense of blind vision. He could make out shapes and figures in the room as it dispelled the majority of the illusion, the magic seeming to swirl around a center point of the room and giving him a horrifying vision. There in the epicenter of the space he could almost physically see his sister levitated above herself, blue veins of magic choking and enveloping her, tying her to her own body while still chaining her just outside it. He allowed his eyes to brace the room once again and all that seemed mountainous before had returned to the first way he’d seen it. Ursa, his beloved sister and friend still had that horribly sad frown across her face and it left him wondering if she watching the world around her like a member of the audience except she was the main character.

“Mason. You’ve gotten so strong…Stronger than I at least.” He didn’t doubt that, at least not for his real sister that is the part of her not swirled by Cipher’s intoxicating magic. She stepped closer again, and he could actually see the stars in her coat shimmer, the realization that it was mirroring the galaxy suddenly dawning on him and it fascinated him deeply how his sister who struggled so strongly to manifest her magic could sustain such a strange illusion. “I’m sorry Mason. I’m sorry that we fought, that I couldn’t save us. But I’m mostly sorry that you came all of this way for nothing.” He peeled away from the galaxy in his sister’s coat and met her eye, a dark shimmer in the vibrant blue that stared back at him. His mouth opened to speak the air rushing from his lungs and stealing the words away before he could attempt them. His body rose upwards so quickly that the room spun and swished around him, his stomach feeling as if it had just slammed into his spine leaving him nauseous.

“Don’t come for me again brother. I’m happy here.” He didn’t need his eyes closed to feel her lie, and if the world wasn’t spinning like a carnival attraction around him he might have called her out on it. A green-blue light surrounded his form uncomfortably, almost like it was suffocating his own magic leaving him disoriented a sick feeling accompanying the sensation of invasion. “Goodbye Mason. I…I love you brother. Please don’t forget that.” Tears were falling so heavily from his sister’s eyes that he could almost imagine a pond pooling around her ankle’s, the room starting to shift in accordance to his imagination and he had no surface to ground his thought. He forced one last look at his sister, taking in all that she was and the form of something manifesting behind her, something familiar and menacing before the world exploded into a bright green light. The light held onto him and cradled him as though he were in someone’s embrace or a swaddle, the warmth of it lulling him into a state of sleep that his own magic seemed to seep out through, surrounding the green until all at once it was gone and the world again smelled of decay and sulfur.


	2. Beginnings are just another way of ending.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason finds himself in his old summer town, memories of his past filling his mind. With the help of a lost ally he manages to bring back the last materials Candy needs for her machine, but as the project nears its fruition Mason starts to notice something odd about this so called ally. Cornered by an unsuspected enemy he has to go it alone to try and fix the past, at least until his friends figure out what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,  
> I know this took a while, I've been having a lot of computer issues so it's been a struggle. Anyways, I wanted to make sure this was good quality so I decided not to rush it haha. I hope you enjoy :)

The air felt stifling, heat rising from the charred ground like a volcanic hot spring. The soil beneath Mason was soft, almost like sand, and granules shifted under his palms as he clenched his fist. Disorientation heavily influenced his reluctance to get up, his mind almost as blank as the staunch soundless atmosphere around him. For a moment he longed for the feeling of grass, the sounds of insects dancing lazily in the summer air and if he focused on it long enough he could almost relive the experience, the warm summer air covering him much more pleasantly than the heat actually below him. But there was no summer breeze, just a gust of wind that ruffled his hair and clothes. It drew his mind back from a hazy summer memory, an overwhelming odor of decay carried in its tendrils.

Brown eyes dared to open, his eyelashes blinking into his vision and the landscape before him blurring. The ground here looked like it had taken the brunt of the scorching, the land almost completely burned up by the second year world wide. There was likely seeds under the thick layer of ashes, laying dormant in wait for a rain that was never going to come. The idea that this area, or any others, may never recover left a heavy weight on Mason's heart. the young man stood up slowly and brushed soot from his clothes, he could feel frayed pieces of yarn brush against his fingers. The softness provided him a familiar comfort, one that he only got from sweaters. He wore it stubbornly, even if the world around him shivered from the sweltering warmth. 

As he braved to advance ahead, the ground mushed beneath his feet every time he took a step. The area, though dead, looked and felt nauseatingly familiar but with the destruction it was hard to tell it apart from other landscapes. Clouds of dust lifted into the air behind him with every press of his feet, his head pounding from the amount of energy he'd exerted to find his sister. Drained wasn't even a proper analogy, in fact he was certain in his mind that, had he needed to battle Cipher, his own power would have torn him apart. His body ached the further he walked, but he took his mind off of it by looking at the sky, it's colors shimmering in a way that reminded Mason of the film fruity pebbles leave behind in milk. In any other circumstance he would have stopped to admire the pretty colors for a while, but he had to press on. The landscape around him rose slightly, the wasteland filled with towering corpses of tree's which stretched towards the sky like a field of pikes. There was still that sensation of vague recognition as he trudged forward, the husks of buildings rising in the distance. 

"I'm...In town." his voice came quietly from his throat, a soft whisper in a land with no noise and no life. Ghosts of his past danced through his memory, plaguing the streets with vibrant images and a world seen through the eyes of a young teenager. He could envision the smells from greasy's kitchen, the sounds of clattering laughter that came from the biker and lodger pub, and the cheerful conversations that exchanged between passing friends in a small town that relied on his great uncle's business to draw in tourists. It was disheartening to return to this place now, to see the remnants of the chaos Cipher had spread into the place that had become the center of it all. This was the town where he and Ursa would practice under their uncle's in their respective arts. The town where they'd spend hours in the vast logging forests, learning and observing the mannerisms of various creatures from mythology.

None of the townspeople remained here anymore, and like the space beneath Cipher's monolith the windows gaped into empty streets and whistled from lifeless eyes. The junkyard was just ahead and he wondered if McGucket, who disappeared following the first madness wave, still lingered in it's leftovers from civilizations waste. At least the crazy old man would make this journey to the shack a little more lively. He'd be something familiar, though Ursa had worked closer with the old man than Mason ever had. "McGucket? Are you still here?" something metal clanged in the piles of trash, the possibility that it was a remnant of Bill's monstrosities was fairly high, leaving Mason in an awkward position. There were plenty of places here he could have hidden in when he was young, but now he was too tall and too broad to fit there anymore. His magic couldn't save him in this case either, since he'd expended his powers in the pyramid of nightmares. 

"Well I'll be, little Mason Pines all grown like rust on a tin bucket. What brings you to the ends of all life?" The sound of McGucket's voice was incredibly comforting in light of the deafening silence, the old man clamoring out of a pile of garbage looking worn and thin. His broken glasses were sitting on his nose, and he gave off an odor much worse than Mason remembered him having as a child. It made him wonder if his son wouldn't occasionally help him to be a little less of a blubbering mess. The memory of Ursa and himself helping the old man find his memories resurfaced from the depths of Masons mind and it made McGucket's current state that much more heartbreaking. "Hey McGucket. How long have you been out here? I mean...When everything fell apart gruncle Stan spent days combing through the wreckage to find you."

The old man gave him a worn smile, wrinkled skin folding at natural creases which were accentuated by the caked on dirt on his skin. Yellowed, decaying teeth showed past a curl of McGucket's lip and Mason had a feeling of true mourning for the old timer. "Ah, well. I knew what was coming an' figured I'd high tail it out of here before I ended up anotha' casualty. When I came back here after I reckin' I was being a coward it was too late. Everyone and thing was loony bins." McGucket pulled a rusted flask from a nap sack he had around his hip and took a very sparing sip. Mason watched with a kind of morbid fascination as the old man lowered himself down onto a pile of metal. It amazed Mason that the sixty-something year old had survived so long by himself, especially since every natural resource had been eradicated from town. Though if he really thought about it, McGucket had always been sort of charmingly resourceful if not borderline psychotic. "I'm sorry McGucket. Well...You're welcome to head back with me." 

Mason paused and watched the hesitation visibly pass through the old man's gaze, compelling him to elaborate. "There's a small band of us that survived and we're held up a day or two's walk from here, if I remember the distance correctly. Honestly I haven't been back to the Fall's since we left to find Ursa." A light that before had seemed staunched, lit up in McGucket's eyes. His gray and dusty hairs fell into his vision from the strands growing out too long and matting from neglect as he sat just slightly forward. Mason didn't figure there was much in the way of hair care products left in town, and even if they had been, a fair number of inanimate objects had become animate and started eating people following the first madness wave. "Yeah, I was wonderin' what done happened to you two kids. Always seemed resourceful so I didn't figure you to be dead. Plus that nutso triangle was mighty fond of your sister." 

A sickening sensation toiled through Mason, and the fact that he had been so oblivious to Cipher's dangerous obsession still tormented him mentally. By the time he had realized how much danger they were all in it was too late and his anti-social sister with big dreams and a bigger sense of purpose had been whisked away by... whatever Bill actually is. "Yeah...I took her bag on accident and got trapped inside of a bubble made of Bill's own designs. It was supposed to keep me from interfering with his plans and to keep Ursa from doing anything 'regretful'. In the end, when she couldn't convince me to leave, she gave herself up in exchange for my freedom. At least that's what Gruncle Ford told me. Ford and I were set free, all so Bill could keep Ursa. I know she wasn't the quickest learner when it came to magic but honestly... Even then, I knew she was more powerful than me. I think it's only thanks to her power and connection to the physical plane that Bill was able to spread his madness at the rate that he did. Not to mention she broke the barrier." There was a solemn recognition in McGucket's eyes that Mason had only just notice, something like nostalgia filling his gaze until his whole body just seemed to sag with sorrow and exhaustion. "I see. Thanks for fillin' me in Mason. So...What's your plan now? Why'd ya come back?"

Mason tried to mentally fumble for an excuse, he knew he had failed to save his sister and that he wouldn't get another chance. He couldn't quite bring himself to admit the truth, at least in his own mind, but as he stared down at the man who had followed both his uncle's through to the creation of all of this mess he realized there wasn't much chance McGucket was about to judge him for his mistakes. "I...I didn't come here intentionally. I was sent here by Ursa. For years we worked on a spell that would get me past the barrier around Bill's monolith so I could save her but when I got there I just ended up exhausting myself and I...I failed McGucket. I couldn't save Ursa, I couldn't save mom and dad...I couldn't keep Bill from getting the rift...I." tears fell from the corners of masons eyes leaving a tacky trail on Mason's cheeks. He wanted to keep speaking but words choked inside of his throat and lumped around his Adams apple. He tried to push back his thoughts, which poured in guilt like a broken facet, but he ended up succumbing to himself and he crumpled down to the ground before McGucket's feet his eyes silently spilling out years worth of regrets. If McGucket minded he never said, and he was kind enough not to stare Mason down as he went through his little cycle. It took a few minutes for Mason to compose himself, a foul odor seeping from the junk pile in front of him making him gag slightly. 

"Sorry about that. I just couldn't...Anyways I kind of want to go see what's left of the shack, would you accompany me?" The light came back to McGucket's tired eyes and he readjusted his glasses, the elderly man sliding down from where he sat and looking down at Mason with his grimy hand extended. A younger version of himself probably would have made some silly comment about grimy old man hands but Mason of today had been fairly worn down by everything going on around him. Without even a quirky comment he accepted the gesture and got up from the ground, not leaning too heavily on McGucket in case he was as frail as he looked. The two trudged back through the junkyard and out the dilapidated wooden fence, the boards seeming to be splintered and sagged. McGucket's feet scraped against the rocky roads as the two passed through town, kicking up a cloud of reddish-brown dust. Mason didn't dare look back into the empty buildings again, keeping his eyes peeled forward as he made his way to a worn down dirt path that gruncle Stan use to take into town. On the way to the shack, with the sky slowly darkening above them, there was nothing but the same husks of tree's branching up to the sky which now shimmered a weird almost obsidian color. The dirt road wound and curved before them, opening up into a clearing where the shack stood almost exactly as the Pines family had left it give or take a little ware and tare. 

Once again tears welled into Mason's eyes, the young man having to pause just so he could stare at the place that was his summer home if not his favorite home. Memories of him and Ursa's adventures flowed in and it was almost like he was there again. "That's it! There again. McGucket, I need to get back down to Fords basement. I doubt the generator still has gas but if we could find some we could get the elevator at least to work again." McGucket didn't seem to clearly follow Masons's sometimes skewed logic but the old man wasted no time in scouring the grounds to try and find a gas can. Mason himself decided to check some of his great uncle's favorite secret (not so secret) hiding places, just in case there was something useful. He found a few cans of brown meat and some beans which he decided he would take with him so he could share a meal with McGucket. He also found some rope, a flashlight, and his favorite grappling hook which he had accidentally left behind. "Ah man...I missed this thing. Hey McGucket, did you find anything?!" He called out to the elderly man as he saw him crossing the lawn back towards him, something glass cupped in the old mans hands. As he got closer Mason could see there was some kind of weird semi-liquid inside which had an almost amber color to it and Mason wondered if McGucket had just saved some of his weird old person pee to show to him. 

"This here is a compound more sustainable than gas that Ford n' I made a while back. I'm surprise they still had a' few bottles still lying aroun where we buried them. This'll keep that generator running for a while. Watcha' got there?" letting go of the jar with one hand, McGucket gestured towards the cans poking out from Mason's own side satchel. Triumph crossed Mason's feature's and he eagerly pulled one of the cans out to show McGucket a kind of disbelief and pride shimmering in the old timers gaze. "Well I'll be a monkey's banana. I haven't been more happy to see one of Stanley's hoardin' habits since that time I gots real sick and he brought me some of that good ol' chicken noodle they use to make back in the seventies. Before ever'thin' got so artificial." Mason made a mental note to try and pry more of his great uncles's pasts out of McGucket later but for now he set off towards the back of the shack where the generator was. He had shoved his grappling hook into his bag making it fairly cumbersome to have on but in the same sense the weight of it was familiar and comforting. "Alrighty kiddo, stand back unless you want to lose your eyebrows. Took ol' Stanley a while to grow them back." Not really wanting to begin premature balding, especially facially, Mason did as he was instructed and stood back cautiously watching from a safe distance as McGucket slowly poured in the weird not quite liquid.

It took a few tries with the controls after the jar had been emptied into the machine to get the generator running, but once the lights start to shine inside the shack it took all of Mason's will power not to simply rush in and collapse on the floor. He kept his jittery emotions in check as he and McGucket walked back around to the front, the lights illuminating the eerily foggy darkness around them. "Alright, we can stop and eat first and then I'll go down to the basement. I have an Idea but I just don't know if it would...You know...Work." He caught a glimpse of McGucket's curious stare as the two entered the door, the wood seeming to sag down as it pushed open. The shack itself smelled of stale air and was bitter cold especially as the outside temperature cooled, but it was still extremely welcoming to Mason in the same sense as an old childhood home that had been abandoned after your family moved out. Memories of his past echoed against the walls as he made his way to the kitchen, his sister's laughter filling in the spaces of empty hallways and empty shadows. 

He decided to test the sinks, the facet sputtering to life and spitting out a sickly brown water. He was pleased that the water pump worked off of the generator too but he wasn't so sure he wanted anything to do with the sludge leaving the sink. "Gross...I don't have a clue as to what affect Bill's chaos has had on the water table but maybe we could...Filter it?" He glanced back at McGucket to see the old man already digging through the cabinets, pulling out a fair sized pot. It seemed almost like McGucket knew exactly where everything was in the shack and it made Mason curious, though he'd save the questions for later. Bill's monsters may not be actively in the area yet but Mason had no doubt that the lights from the shack will attract something if anything does come around.

Mason began searching the cupboards and shelves in case his gruncle had something for water filtration since the old timer had been so obsessed with the apocalypse. His fingers brushed against worn, bumpy wood grain, the small shreds of compressed pulp starting to fray in the corners giving the surface of the cabinets a rough texture. Dust filled the air and wafted like a heavy fog into Mason's nose, leaving an unpleasant tickle in its place. Bits and pieces of microscopic particles shimmered in the light from kitchen which swung just slightly on its chain. The insides of the cabinets smelled musty, and rotted bread left a sour smell to everything within proximity. Small insects and even a few small field mice scattered from the inner hiding places whenever a new cabinet was opened, expelling Mason's previously held belief that nothing except McGucket could have survived the madness waves untouched. A smell of oily meat caught Mason's attention, the smell drawing his gaze to his left to see McGucket doing his best to make a meal of the can Mason had previously found. The smell was better in comparison to the rotten food Mason kept encountering but the idea that it was made of potentially artificial meat made Mason's stomach gurgle unpleasantly. "Got anything to put that in?" Mason called over to McGucket, the old man somehow managing to stir the food with his beard while he checked the cupboards closest to him for plates. 

Mason curled up his lip as he pictured dirty, grimy, old man hairs sprinkled into his food but none the less he continued his search for some kind of water filter. Thirst was going to be a big issue in the morning, especially since Mason's canteen was running low and it seemed as if McGucket had relied on filtering his own pee for drink. It wasn't a horrible survival tactic but Mason refused to stoop to that level if he could help it. More rotten food, cans of beans and other non-perishables, and dust followed the next few cabinets leaving Mason feeling a little discouraged. He grabbed all of the cans of food he could find, though most of it was just scraps of things left behind when gruncle Stan had done a grab and run with the shacks supplies. He figured some more food would make up for not returning with Ursa, when he did finally make it back to town. "Alrighty there youngin', I've got some good ol' fashion meat in a can for ya." McGucket's voice shrieked from the stove and the sound which was akin to nails across the grain of wood made the young man jump, his sweater catching on one of the cabinet handles which tore the fabric. A mournful gaze was given to his sweater before he pulled it off and fashioned it into a sac that he filled with the cans and other usable goods like salt. 

The table where he and Ursa use to eat with their gruncle's looked sad in its slightly darkened corner, food stains molding on top of it and the legs sinking slightly into the wood of the shack as the floor had apparently become uneven over the past few years. McGucket had just finished putting down two not quite so clean plates down before scooping a steaming pile of meat goop on top. Mason tried not to gag as he stared down the nearly gelatinous substance, and in fact as he neared it he noticed that it jiggled just slightly. "Bon appetite. I guess." the young man mumbled mostly to himself, sitting down on a creaky wooden chair that left him feeling as if he was in a car that had been precariously parked on a hill. He wondered if the shack had always been this hugely underwhelming, if perhaps he spent so much time listlessly enjoying his vacation with his family members that he hadn't bothered to see things for what they were. Then again, he guessed that summed up his entire life especially since Ursa was more likely to be in tune with things like leaky roofs and slanted chairs. "Ya gunna eat that or continue staring off in to space? I once wanted to go to space you know. But then I lost my marbles! Literally." Mason smiled at what he presumed was a joke, though coming from McGucket it could have been a completely serious statement, the younger man deciding that he was in fact going to eat the unappetizing food. 

He found the taste to be very much like spam, which while not his favorite food it wasn't too horrible. What did get to him was the slightly grainy texture, and hard pieces of gristle mixed into what had to have been every left over bit of animal a factory could end up with. He seriously would not be surprised if there was something like bone meal or anus meat in the mixture though he hoped it was the former and not the latter. "So what was this idea you said you had brewin up there?" In the excitement, and then crippling disappointment, of being in the shack again Mason had spaced the fact that he had been looking for something specific in the building or more specifically Ford's lab. It took him a moment of thinking to retrace what exactly he had wanted his mind taking some back-paths through memories and random thoughts like what Gids was eating right now, or if Wendy was warm tonight. "Oh, right. There is a list of chemicals that doctor Chu...Well Doctor Northwest now, wanted for her project and I figured Ford's lab would have most if not all of it." There was a glimmer of life in McGucket's eyes, like an old car being revved back into life after sitting dormant in a junkyard for years and the sight about moved Mason to tears. 

"Well if I know's one thing it's Fords stuff. I haven't been down in that lab since I was a bit older than you but I don't gather old Ford moved too much around." Mason didn't figure he had either, as meticulous as Ford seemed, though as far as security went it was a bad practice to never switch up anything. With almost as much excitement that a tired blood hound retained on a hot summers evening, Mason finished off his plate knowing the nutrients were more important than the potability of the food. They both cleaned up their mess, though with the water still being grimy Mason saw cleaning as being a more relative term. More non-perishable foods were found in cupboards which they promptly packed into Mason's torn sweater. He felt empty with out the comfort of the wool surrounding him, and part of him wondered if he still had any yarn in he and Ursa's old room though it wasn't too likely since they'd packed everything they could before making a run for it. 

With some urging from McGucket, Mason turned away from the darkened stairs that lead up to the attic room, his eyes casting a longing glance towards his childhood summer room. He hurried after McGucket when he heard the vending machine open, the elderly man already searching around for something to light the way into the basement. "Hang on McGucket, I have a flashlight." Mason saw McGucket put down a strange metal object at his call, his gaze casting back towards the younger man. Rather than ask about the trinket, Mason dug around inside of his side pouch, the leather feeling cool against his fingers and the contents within rustling against each other. It took him a moment to find the flashlight handle, the object buried under a series of sewing and knitting needles that Mason carried with him everywhere. 

He waved McGucket over, already flicking the light on which filled the dark corners of the space and cast shadows from the objects around him against the walls. Their descent to the elevator was quiet, the only sound being their feet against concrete and the occasional hissing of a pipe while the heaters tried in vain to warm the shack. The elevator seemed to be in decent condition, still as stanch and mysterious as the first and only time Mason had seen it before. He felt at odds with going down to Fords private space without either the man himself or Ursa, but he also knew he had no choice but to. He let McGucket in first, the metal structure creaking precariously as Mason also stepped inside and he mentally questioned how it had ever held Soos' weight. The decent down wasn't quite as bad as he'd been expecting though, with only the old wires groaning in protest from not being used and the engine puffing as it was brought back from a state of death. He didn't spend any time here like Ursa did, but when the gate rolled open and revealed the inner deep basement to them, it looked relatively the same. Papers had been left on the desk, books jammed between shelving, chemicals lined a sturdy oak bookshelf on the left. The picture of himself and Ursa that grunkle Stan had kept was still sitting on the top of the main work bench, their two smiling faced grinning up at him and reminding him of the day it was taken. 

Harboring a heavy heart, he moved away from the nostalgic picture and put his satchel on the workbench so he could check through the contents. He could hear McGucket pilfering around behind him, moving objects and occasionally clanking glass but he figured as familiar with the place as he was, he had a right to go through the items. "McGucket come here real quick." He called back, seeing McGucket tottering towards him from the corner of his eye with his hands full of papers. "Whatcha' got there?" Mason craned his neck to get a better view of the papers the old man was holding, though even while twisting he couldn't make out an definitive words. "Oh just some ol' paper's n' stuff I think your great uncle'll want." Mason didn't argue with McGucket since he knew gruncle Ford better than he himself did. Instead he passed a piece of paper that had scribbled words on it to McGucket, watching him stare at it with scrutiny. "Is this all you need? Well that won't be a problem." in a flourish of crinkling papers and slightly foul air McGucket began puttering about, checking faded labels on Ford's chemicals. 

It wasn't very long before McGucket had come back with the papers shoved who know's where, and the chemicals all held between his spindly arms. Mason questioned the sanctity of holding glass objects like that mentally but he left McGucket to do his weird old man thing. They gathered a few more things from Fords lab that McGucket had said would be useful and made their way back up to the first floor. Already it was warming up in the shack, the heaters giving off a slight odor but the heat was a pleasant change from the bitter cold. From the windows, Mason could see the sky had turned a pure black, encasing the world around them in deep moonless shadows. Dust and ash floated in streams through the air as winds pushed against the slats that made up the shacks exterior, howling loudly with a distinct whistle when it passed through cracks in the wood. "We should wait until sunrise...Well, whatever it is that Bill lets through, before we head towards the others." If McGucket disagree'd he didn't voice it, the elderly man depositing his chemical bounty into Mason's sweater sack. Again he wondered if it was safe, but as crazy as he was McGucket was still far more educated than Mason could ever hope to be. 

As a precaution they turned all of the lights in the shack off, only leaving an oil lamp they found in Ford's room on for light as they found places to settle in. Mason had thought about sleeping in his old room but he couldn't bring himself to go up there, as if stepping foot in that room would finalize everything that had happened. He simply didn't feel ready to face all that had been to all that currently was, opting to sleep in gruncle Stan's old room instead. The bed wasn't in terrible condition despite not being touched in a long while, but the room was musty and filled with reminders of the kind of man Stan used to be before he became as worn down as Mason felt. The night wasn't even that peaceful, with howling winds and endless screeching keeping Mason from truly drifting off and resting his wary mind. He doubted he could have slept even if it was perfectly quiet, his mind plagued with visions of the carnage and chaos Bill had spread across the entirety of earth. Instead he laid in his bed, listening to the screaming wind and letting his mind drift aimlessly from thought to thought. 

........

"It's just a bit father ok?" The trek from the old town to the last standing settlement of survivors was a long one, but Mason was able to use the monolith as a landmark. Once it's massive shadow crossed their paths and the last forest stretched before them he knew they were incredibly close. McGucket had done well with the journey, despite living in the landfill in a dead town for at least three years. Bill hadn't really wasted any time in destroying everything that was beautiful about the earth and humanity once the barrier was gone, so every time his monolith moved so too did their last group. It was an endless venture to save what they could, and while they had worked on saving Ursa it had been a good strategy. Mason lead them around the forest, as he wasn't sure what was in it or that anything in there was friendly. Ursa's powers were dependent on nature, and Mason rationalized that the forest simply served as a small battery to keep her from becoming powerless and thus useless to Bill. Even so, they'd still have to cross a mind field of madness bubbles once they cleared the empty town Mason had last seen his companions in. He seriously doubted they were still waiting in the town, it was too dangerous to stick close to the monolith with Bill's lackey's haunting the grounds trying to snuff out the resisting humans and magical beasts. 

"What in the great dangle keeper is that doo hickey?" Mason followed McGucket's gaze, watching a very large extra-dimensional being pass lazily over head. He clasped his hand over the old man's mouth, lowering his own breathing to keep quieter. He was fairly familiar with the rather dull minded creature, it was an eyeless beast that floated blindly by but it's hearing was impeccable and it was known by the survivors to simply flop it's behemoth of a body down on its victims. There was a moment when Mason feared the worse as it lingered just above them, but it soon passed on to float off in the opposite direction of where they were heading. Adrenaline was pumping through Mason, a sense of hyper awareness filling him while he ushered McGucket on wards. He didn't want to linger too long in case one of the more visually capable creatures decided to come by. 

The farther the monolith was from them, the better he felt even if they'd have to pass through a mine field of mind altering spheres. He stopped McGucket before he could step aimlessly into one, his gaze stern as he held onto the old timer's shoulders. "McGucket I need you to pay close attention to what I am about to say. These weird bubbles are filled with glimpses into alternate dimensions, and even just a moments exposure to them can severely effect your psyche. I know you're already fairly short of sanity but please be careful and stick close to me through here." He waited until understanding reflected in McGucket's eyes before he let go of him, his genuine concern probably not a thing McGucket got often. As he had asked, the hill billy was close on his heels while they crossed the field of insanity. There were a few close calls as the technicolor shimmering orbs skimmed past them but Mason was proud that they never actually passed through one. 

He stopped as they reached the end of the field, the land dipping down into a valley where the settlement could be seen in the near distance. They placed it there because even Bill's so called friends didn't like to pass the madness field so it was a matter of safety. People who looked like ants were bustling about and Mason could spot the Manotaur, Chutzpah, carrying something massive on his shoulders. "Come on, everyone is waiting for us." He waved McGucket onward, the two skidding down the steep decline in the soil. Mason tumbled a few times and nearly rolled down the embankment but each time McGucket helped right him and he continued on until the land leveled out under their feet. The landscape aside from the settlement was the same as Gravity Fall's, with towering pikes of dead tree's and deep brick colored ash covering every inch of soil beneath them. The sky began to shimmer as it had before, thick green clouds swirling ominously overhead. The storms were often violent and always filled with blood so Mason pushed them on even faster, not wanting to be caught in a down pour of viscous liquids. Even in the settlement they were closing in on he could see it's inhabitants trying to cover up what they could, the sky rumbling above them with a warning. 

Faces turned to them as they came within feet of the survivors, relief on many expressions when they realized it was Mason. "Gideon has been like, looking for you like crazy. I think he started pulling his hair out, which is so uncool of him." Tambry was still slaving away at an old engine, not really glancing up when Mason got within hearing range. He didn't bother responding to her quips, knowing she'd become the self appointed gossip after all cell towers had stopped working. He lead McGucket into a large warehouse building, the metal doors screeching as he pulled them open. Immediately he was embraced by his two great uncle's both looking him over for injuries before hugging him again. "We were worried about you. There was this immense light that came from the tip of the monolith and after that your radio went completely dead. We weren't sure what to think." Mason had forgotten that they sent him in with a walkie talkie, his hands subconsciously moving to the empty space where he had equipped it. "It must have fallen off while I was struggling with Bill's illusion. Anyways, I found McGucket. I'll leave you to catch up, I need to take these to Dr. Northwest."

He left them to talk, slipping past his other friend Grenda before she could even think to hug him. He had delicate chemicals in his bag and Grenda had a vice like grip most of the time. He was happy that he made it to the elevator without being accosted, the more modern elevator so strange when he compared it mentally to Ford's. It was a silent ride down to the basement level where Dr.Northwest had been slaving away at her project ever since Mason insisted on trying to save Ursa. He had been upset that she felt they needed a back-up plan, but as the doors slid open and he stepped into the clean space he came to a painful realization. They all knew he would fall, they were so certain of it, but they still encouraged him because he needed to try and they understood that. Pain tugged at his chest, sterilized air filling his lungs and a smell of citrus from cleaning chemicals filled in the spaces. 

Candy looked up the moment she heard his steps on the pristine linoleum, her eyes lighting up with excitement and her features splitting into a smile. "I am very happy to see you survived." She called to him, pushing her glasses up on her face from where they'd slacked. Mason mirrored her excitement, bee lining for her without bothering to address whomever was around. He placed his over flowing sweater sac on the table bench in front of her and carefully move the chemicals from their warm cocoon. He was just as pleased as she was that nothing had broken or spilled in there, the vials and bottled impeccably sealed by gruncle Ford. "This is great Mason. This is all I needed to finish up. Why don't you go talk to your boyfriend while I finish this?" He froze mentally for a moment, a loud tap echoing behind him which he guessed was from Gideon's foot. He turned very slowly, smiling sheepishly down to the shorter man whose white hair was sticking up in several spots rather than being it's usual perfectly styling. He could see the puffy redness around light blue eyes and guilt overwhelmed him, knowing he had scared all of them so badly. 

"I...I'm home?" he tested Gideon's mood subtly, watching scrutinizing anger melt into relief in his gaze. He found himself swept into a firm hug, white hairs tickling his cheek. He smelled like raspberries and coconut, which Mason absolutely loved, his hair still soft even without its normal product in it. "I was afraid we'd lost you Mason. Do you have any idea how worried we all were? You coulda' been killed." Even if he was being scolded Mason knew it all came from a warm place, his own hold around Gideon tightening slightly to assure both of them that it was ok. They remained like that for much longer than necessary, not that Mason really minded, but eventually they had to separate and discuss what happened. He noticed his great uncles and McGucket had made their way to the basement, Grenda rushed forward with a booming declaration of Mason's name her wrestler like grip squeezing him uncomfortably. "Grenda. I love you but...Can't breathe." She let him go with his back audibly popping, both of his great uncles staring at him sympathetically. "Well...Having you all here makes this easier. I managed to find Ursa but it took a while. I won't go into too much detail right now, I'm still sorting through what I saw but when I SAW her...It's like her soul is being suspended outside of her body, just chained to it by Bill's magic. I have no idea what good that would do him when he doesn't need her physical form himself."

They were quiet, even McGucket looking a little uncomfortable with the situation. What Mason had seen was completely bizarre and eventually they had him sit down and explain everything in detail so they could comprehend what he went through. The layout of Bill's monolith and the sheer power he had now was beyond what they'd comprehended before, since he was able to fool most of Masons physical sense more than once but even Ford agree'd that it was valuable information. They concluded that even with all of their combined magic they couldn't stand a chance against an ability like that, which meant they'd have to rely on Candy's back up plan. "So what in Tar Nation is this here thingy you're working on?" McGucket was slumped over Candy's blue prints, his broken glasses skewed on his face but he didn't seem to really mind as he was concentrating so hard. "It is a temporal machine that will use Mason's energy force to physically move him to a previous state of being." Mason had no clue what she meant by that, but McGucket seemed to, and he eagerly began lending a hand. It was a little strange to Mason, to watch his two great uncle's and how they worked along side McGucket. They all three had a past they never really exposed but they seemed so natural and comfortable in the lab setting. Stan would get heavy things and secure bolts, McGucket would modify plans and layouts, and Ford worked with the chemical mixture needed to get the right reaction. 

He didn't get long to admire their proficiency as he was whisked away by Gideon and Grenda, taking him to where Wendy and John were waiting to see him. He didn't know much about John, since he came to them from the east coast as the last survivor as his group but he and Wendy had immediately hit it off so Mason figured he couldn't be a terrible guy. They both hugged him and they joked around about Bill's insane decorating tricks, giving a lighter feeling to a place that was still haunting Mason. "I just miss my sweater." He admitted as they sat near one of the windows, cold soda's in their hands while they watched the blood rain pour down from the sky in a mass of red. "Yeah man, it sucks that it got torn. I know how much you loved that thing. But maybe we can get enough yarn to make you a new one?" He appreciated the thought from Wendy but as he thought about it, he felt deeply that it wouldn't be right to knit another one. He'd never made a sweater that he hadn't shown to Ursa and with the current situation there was no way he ever could so he'd rather avoid that heart ache. 

.......

The machine took three more months to finish, and throughout that time Mason began to grow a little suspicious of McGucket. He had learned to trust his instincts after losing Ursa. However in this instance he also wondered if he was just being paranoid, after all it was McGucket not some new guy. Still some of his behaviors were uncharacteristic of how Mason had seen him, the old timer even disappearing for a few hours in the day before returning mysteriously with new material for the machine. He had taken his concern's to Ford but he was simply told that McGucket, like all of them, had been through a lot and he just needed to do his own thing sometimes. He wanted to believe that but the bad feelings stuck with him every time he'd simply disappear, and lingered after he returned. As the machine neared it's fruition he found himself closely monitoring every thing McGucket did, getting so bad that Candy begged Gideon to keep him out of the lab. He would then just sit and watch the elevator for McGucket to leave every day, unintentionally neglecting his friends and lover. A few times Gideon called him out on it, and he'd spend the entire day just with him or with his friends but he never let McGucket out of his view for very long. He had spent all night trying to trail McGucket when they stopped working on the machine to get rest but he'd lost him just out side of the settlement, leaving Mason sitting in the dark warehouse alone while everyone slept in the houses that were still sturdy.

He was drifting between awake and asleep when he heard the door screech open, the darkness from the outside and from within the warehouse obscuring his view of the individual entering. He quietly ducked behind some kegs and watched as the lights were flicked on, his own form still hidden behind a mass of boxes and supplies. He recognized McGucket immediately, the old timer dragging in a large piece of metal that he pulled towards the elevator. It looked heavy, possibly made of steel and Mason had a hard time believing that such a frail looking old man could possibly carry it from however far he went to find it. McGucket didn't have any magic like the pine's family and Gideon did so there was no way he used something in that manner, which meant he had to have dragged it to the warehouse on sheer human will alone. He watched with horror as the metal sheet was lifted upwards without McGucket even touching it, the old mans eyes flashing a bright and unmistakable yellow as it moved along side him. Mason finally felt justified about his desire to monitor McGucket, especially since he had seriously started to doubt his own sanity for a while. Silently and with some mind to where McGucket had his attention, he stepped out from behind the kegs right as McGucket had reached a distance of three feet from him. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared across to the currently unaware figure, his own foot tapping loudly on the tile floor. "What are you doing?" He called out, the metal clattering to the ground and the yellow immediately seeping from his eyes. There was a look of pure shock on McGucket's face, if Mason could even call it that, and he could see the old man shift uncomfortably knowing full well he had been caught. "I was just taking this here doo hingy down to the thingy ma whopper." McGucket's voice shook audibly, his feet poised to run backwards and his body language stiff.

Mason had never had a hand up like this, so he decided to milk it, walking towards the impostor McGucket without appearing too threatening. He patted his shoulder and grabbed an end of the metal, eyeing McGucket with scrutiny. "How about I give you a hand. It looks pretty heavy for one old man. Must have been a pain to carry here." If McGucket, or Faker McSuckit and Mason was calling him in his head, had been nervous he did a good job hiding it. He smiled wearily at Mason and grabbed another end, the two carrying the metal sheet into the elevator and squeezing in around it. The ride down was silent as ever, but a heavy awkwardness was lingering in the air between the two men. Mason waited until McFaker seemed to relax and pressed the emergency stop button, fear and uncertainty in the mans eyes as he regarded Mason. "Alright. Why don't you explain what you've been up to, and maybe I'll consider not turning you in you fraud." There was a staunch silence in the stalled elevator, its lights tinted red from it being stopped right between floors. For a moment Mason started to question if he'd gone insane and was hallucinating from not sleeping but then a twisted grin stretched across the normally worn face and the shriveled old man morphed into a much taller and more imposing person. Mason had to still himself to keep from screaming as he locked gazes with a pair of gold colored eyes, blond hair just slightly fringing over the left eye. Where once ashy pale skin had been, there was a perfect bronze and Mason had to look up instead of down since the other was taller than him by half a foot.

"I am impressed Shooting Star. You've been trailing me for a few months now. First getting through my illusions and now this. I never could have imagined it. Especially since I got you to hand me that sphere so easily." There wasn't any fallacy in his statement, the harsh voice grating against Mason's ear. He didn't have a very good retort either, and chose to keep his mouth shut while Bill stared him down. His thoughts consumed him and he started to internally panic at his own stupidity. He had locked himself in a metal box suspended several feet in the air with the same homicidal chaos creature that had ended the world just about, and stolen his sister's soul. The splitting, toothy grin on his face told Mason well enough that the other could sense Mason's fear. Mason responded to a threatening gaze given by Bill, by taking in a few silent breaths and steeling his nerves so he could concentrate on what to do next. He had suspected McGucket wasn't McGucket after the first month, but he hadn't thought of what to do if he actually caught him in the act. "What's the matter kid? Afraid I'm going to eviscerate you and wear your skins as a suite?" That wasn't his first thought, but now that the other mentioned it, he was starting to visualize just that. "What are you planning you over cooked Dorito? You can't stop us. We'll get the job done with or without your sabotage." The shrill laughter Bill was so known for echoed in the small space, and Mason found himself pressing against the wall of the elevator to create a larger pocket of distance.

"Sabotage? I'm actually fixing your lame attempts at a time hopping device. Without my improvises it would have never worked. But don't worry Shooting Star, it won't blow you up." That didn't ease any of Mason's worries, in fact all of what Bill was saying just left him in a state of confusion. He wasn't a naturally rational person and was known to do things that made no sense himself, but what Bill was doing was pure insanity. "Well that is my M.O. kid, but honestly I'm actually looking forward to watching you flesh bags scramble about and try to stop me." Mason raised a brow at that, he didn't know Bill well, but something inside him screamed that there was more to it than Bill being bored with trying to eradicate the last group of survivors. "This is about Ursa isn't it?" There came a more bitter silence between them, Bill's previously unyielding gaze faltering just slightly. Mason was a little bit pleased that he had guessed right, since it was a huge shot in the dark but as the self proclaimed expert of love he realized Bill's dating skills needed a lot of help. He also realized that the last thing he needed to do right now was give the jerk who stole his sister and trapped her soul dating advice.

"You know Bill, there are better ways to get to a girls heart than trapping her brother and destroying the world. I mean, I know people coin the term flames of passion but I doubt this is what they meant." Mason mentally berated himself for giving into his old habits concerning other people's relationships. He had a reputation for trying to fix things that often didn't need to be fixed, and this was definitely not the way he needed to fix his sister's predicament. Bill, the ever present mind reader, laughed off what Mason had said and pressed the button on the elevator that made it continue its decent. Mason hadn't bothered to stop him when he reached for it, he knew that he was at a disadvantage against Bill normally let alone in a tight space. "It's not...Just about that kid. Now. If you'd be willing to listen Shooting Star, though I know that's hard for you, I'll explain some things."

Mason moved out of the elevator first, giving Bill space to drag the metal sheet out of the elevator. He was incredibly glad Candy and the other's weren't awake and working at the moment, especially after they had all discussed how unlikely it would be even for a group to take on Cipher. He kept a good distance as Bill got to work on putting the steel sheet where it needed to be, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the calculations on the bench table beside the machine. "I made some pretty messed up decisions in my ETERNAL AND INSUFFERABLE existence, but none as arguably so as letting Gleeful trap me in this human body. I thought I could trick him somehow to get better gains from the deal than just a physical presence in this realm but I under estimated his intelligence. Kid did his research in that damned journal, I'll give him that much credit." Mason forgot about his desire to keep distance and drifted closer just so he could better hear Bill's story. Even when they had thought he was just a magical teen like themselves Mason had been compelled by the way Bill explained things. It was his only quality that Mason saw as redeemable. "I was desperate to get out of that deal. I hadn't just been given a physical form but I was trapped here on this plane of existence and without my full scope of abilities. I saw you and your sister as an opportunity when you showed up to train under that dumb old man. What better to break a deal than witches right? Well those kinds of spells weren't you two's thing, it was Ford's but there was no way he was going to help. I ended up turning to someone else instead."

There was a pause as Mason moved in to help Bill balance some of the dials on the machine that calibrated it's power levels. Just having watched the four of them work on the machine had taught Mason a lot about it, and he could see the surprise in Bill's gaze when Mason didn't blow them up. "I'm not as slow as some people think." He offered up, trying not to cringe at Bill's laughter. "Take this over to the tank and put in about thirty milligrams would you, mister competent?" Insults aside, Mason did as he was asked and walked over to the tank with the precariously stable liquid. He was extremely careful while measuring since he was certain he would kill everyone in ten blocks if he messed up. "I never intended to actually like either of you two brats. The plan was just to use and toss like I did with Ford...I just under estimated your sister's ability to make people care about her. I suppose it has to do with her natural healing powers but her curiosity was magnetic. Especially for...Someone like me. Minds are my thing, and your sisters was one of the most interesting I'd seen in centuries."

Mason was a little uncomfortable with Bill spilling out all that he liked about the girl he literally tricked into becoming a puppet more than once, but he didn't want to ruin Bill's sharing mood. It was his hope that he'd get something useful from him, especially since he seemed bent on finishing up the machine. "Alright, but you mentioned turning to someone else for help?" Bill grew very still when Mason spoke up, his body language rigid through his hands were still fiddling with the controls. Behind them the Machine began to hum to life distracting both of them for a moment while they watched a shimmering greenish light fill in the circle. "Alright kid, I need you to step back. I know they said they would use your power but trust me shooting star. You'd just burn yourself out." In the excitement, Mason had completely spaced out that Bill was not disguised any more and that the machine used up enough power to black out all of the electricity they had managed to generate for it. He never heard the elevator stop on the floor, because it never made it far, and he never heard the footsteps of the approaching person because their feet never once touched the ground. Instead, right as he had finished giving the machine the push it needed, Mason had to watch as Bill crumpled down and gasped loudly as if in pain.

"I should have known you would try to wiggle your way out of our deal. Honestly, I'm starting to think you don't want your precious freedom or whatever." The voice made Mason feel chilled, his body turning only slightly to confirm the origin. Before him, in all that was her glory and primed richness was Pacifica Northwest. She had some kind of amulate in her palm that glowed an icy blue and streamed over to Bill. Mason knew how amulate's worked from his own issues with Gideon but he never imagined one being used against something like Bill. Remembering that there was currently, a perhaps not as evil as first believe, multi-dimensional being coughing on the floor Mason stepped further from Pacifica. He didn't leave his gaze on her even as he got close enough to Bill to where he could help the other up, a slim blonde brow raising on Pacifica's face as she watched him. 

"I'll get to you later Mason, but honestly Cipher. Did you think you could get away with not fulfilling your end to completion? The end of the world was a nice touch but I still haven't gotten what I want." Mason couldn't imagine anything Pacifica would want, she had literally everything someone could want given the apocalyptic environment and even before then she was the richest and coolest person he had known. Not that she seemed very cool right now, especially after practically admitting that weirdmaggedon was somewhat her doing. "I told you day one kid, you cannot change the state of a heart." Bill spat out on her, his weight leaned against Mason's rather uncomfortably. For a moment he considered dropping him on the floor but when he considered the amount of power the amulate had to have had over him, he decided not to. "You certainly manage to change Ursa Pines's." There was a sick feeling in Mason's gut, like he was privy to something he was not supposed to be seeing and it only got worse as the two of them argued. 

"I didn't change the state of her heart you INSIGNIFICANT SPECK OF FLESH. She felt however she felt towards me without there being outside influences." Mason recoiled physically when Bill's body heated up with his anger, the blond flopping to the ground with a slight thud. He casted Mason an annoyed look, but he didn't look too offended after Mason helped him up again. "If you couldn't do it, than why'd you take the deal?" Feeling Bill Cipher cringe was weird, especially since it didn't outwardly look like he did, but Mason was in a unique position to where such things were not easy to hide. "Why don't you tell Mason exactly what our deal was about Llama girl." Mason felt completely lost, but he gathered that some how he was involved in this one way or another especially when he saw Pacifica draw back slightly with a look of guilt. "It doesn't mater any more. You knew the consequences of failure Cipher. It won't take long for those two old men to get the electricity running either." 

The sterile room felt cold in a way much different from the first time Mason had come down here. It wasn't just something physical but it made his own essence crawl, like time was starting to around him. He never processed the magic that Pacifica flung at him, just that Bill pushed him aside and then crumpled down it a way unlike before. His face which had terrified Mason more than once in it's not quite human-ness was scrunched up in pain, and his left hand clutched hard at his stomach where there was a strange blue glow. "GET IN THE MACHINE YOU USELESS FLESH STICK!" Mason had no idea what was happening, or what kind of deal Pacifica and Bill had made but he did understand what Bill was telling him. He needed to go now, and try to fix the mess the three of them made together all with poor decisions and ill intentions. It was eery to him how alike they were in their selfishness, one for freedom, one for some kind of emotional gain it seemed, and himself for not losing his sister to her dream. "And don't interact directly with any of them, or you will destroy space-time in it's entirety. Good luck Shooting Star." 

It was the last thing Mason heard from that room, his own magical essence shivering as he was just barely grazed by Pacifica's spell. The world around him warped in a blast of light, and a feeling much worse than when he broke into Bill's monolith surrounded him. It was unlike just being pulled in every direction, but more like being pulled in all impossible directions. He closed his eyes tight, not wanting to see what would happen if he failed only to emerge from the light onto hard ground. The air around him was warm, but pleasantly and he could feel softness between his fingers while the rest of him struggled to catch up. A breeze pushed past him that cooled down the air comfortably, a bright though not painful light flickering past his closed eye lids as something rustled above him. He took a breath, letting his stomach lurch, and he opened his eyes. He was greeted with a sea of green, grass lifting above his head, and tree leaves dancing against spindling branches. He immediately recognized where he was as his gaze caught something small tottering by, a red pointed cap bouncing on its head as it moved through the brush. A smile cracked across his mouth, and he sat up just laughing to himself, not caring who or what was around because he made it. Because the world made sense again, and was beautiful. Because, even after destroying everything he knew, Bill was the reason Mason had a chance to try again and fix what he had done.


End file.
